Things Change
by coffee89
Summary: Booth finally makes a move on Bones.
1. Chapter 1

The words bubbled up inside him yet again.

He was leaning against Bones' office doorway, half-listening to her scientific ramble and simultaneously trying to quell his rising emotions. She wasn't looking at him, which helped; it was always so much harder when she was looking at him. In the last session they'd groaned through, Sweets had said that he noticed an increased tension in their partnership, and Bones had scoffed, saying that nothing had changed, that they were still focused on work, keeping things professional etc. etc.

Booth had shifted uneasily in his chair and perspired.

Because something _had _changed. Not recently, of course; Sweets hadn't noticed it until a week ago, but Booth had been agonizing about it for over a year. Bones was oblivious, naturally, swept up in her fantasy world of independent-and-successful-genius-who-can-be-perfectly-satisfied-with-meaningless-sex. It wasn't her fault, but it still irked Seeley that she hadn't noticed in all this time that he was acting more like a puppy dog following a master than a partner following the evidence.

At present they were working on a straightforward, corpse-explosion case that required very little thought, unfortunately, and so his mind was wandering to how deep and seductive her voice was, and how blue her eyes were, and how she was sitting on the edge of her chair and staring unblinkingly at the computer screen in front of her in the way she always did when she was about to find out something crucial to the case. These were the things that had first attracted him, although many little details had come to his attention over the past few months.

"Are you even listening, Booth?" She asked, looking up at him with those dangerously blue eyes and frowning.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure. Forensic mumbo-jumbo, blah, blah, blah, point me in the direction of who to question."

She sighed, but they had been working together long enough that he could sense an underlying amusement in her expression, "It was most likely Warren-the best friend. We found his blood at the crime scene and he has motive…he was sleeping with the victim's wife."

"Great, so, we're done?"

"I'm not really comfortable saying that until we have all the evidence together. Aren't I coming with you?"

He groaned inwardly; he didn't think he could handle another second of casual conversation with her, let alone a few hours.

"Not today, Bones, alright? I've got some things I need to mull over about the case and stuff."

"What do you have to mull over that I can't help with? Booth, wait!"

He had gotten about ten steps away from her office when he heard the angry clicking of her heels. He hung his head, silently cursing his steadily increasing heart rate. He didn't turn around, even when she called his name twice and quickened her pace to catch up with him. She tapped him on the arm in her usual, abrupt way, and it was then, just as he was whipping around to tell her to back off and let him have his space when the explosion shook the lab. It was only a matter of seconds before instinct propelled him to back Bones up against the wall with his hands protectively placed on either side of her, debris flying at them and screams resounding off the walls.

She was looking up at him curiously when the dust settled, like she was trying to figure out what it all meant, and he was dipping his head down a little bit further and capturing her lips with his before he could even think _Stop. _

It was strange, to be in this position and somehow know that he was in the Jeffersonian and that the whole squint squad was probably watching. It was strange because he knew this, and he didn't care. All he cared about was the agonizing second or two throughout which Bones did not kiss back. She stood there, trembling, his hands on either side of her, and he felt stupid and lovesick. He had the sinking feeling that he'd just ruined everything-their whole partnership-and that she'd never trust him in the same way again.

Then, slowly, tentatively, she moved beneath him, pressing slightly, carefully. He could have fallen in love with her all over again because of that kiss, and he would have, too, if he weren't already head-over-heels. It was soft, their lips hovering over each other, barely touching. It was perfect.

When he finally pulled away, the first thing he noticed was Angela, her hair mussed and her clothing torn, standing two feet away from them with her mouth wide open and a dazed look on her face. Then she cracked a knowing smile and pointed a finger at the two of them.

"I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. Hodgins owes me a fifty."

He frowned, still feeling the spark of her lips on his.

"Is everyone okay?" he called out, ignoring Angela's remark. Columns of smoke rose from piles of ruined equipment, and a layer of dust and ash was settling onto every available surface.

"It was Hodgins and Zack," an annoyed looking Cam replied, appearing out of the smoke, "Another stupid experiment. They better pray no one's dead…. I swear, the next time they pull something like this they're gone. Have you seen Doctor Brennan?"

Booth shifted uncomfortably and stepped aside, revealing an extremely baffled forensic anthropologist. Cam limped over to them, missing a shoe.

"Well, I guess I'd better get back to the office to make some calls," Booth said, avoiding Bones' eyes and starting to walk away, "I still need to check up on that one guy's alibi…"

He turned around when he was almost to the door of the Jeffersonian because he felt her eyes burning the back of his neck. She was giving him a strange, confused look and had her fingers up to her lips. He felt his knees buckle at her childlike confusion, so he turned away from her and continued out the door.

**Author's Note: Alright, so this is my first story in forever. Be kind!**


	2. Chapter 2

The Jeffersonian was back to its usual appearance, the last of the rubble swept up by the janitors a couple of days ago, the staff back to examining bacteria through microscopes and sketching the deceased on neon green clipboards. Brennan and Booth hadn't really spoken since the explosion, except for a few clipped and awkward cell phone conversations pertaining to the case. He was worried that he'd scared her off and she was avoiding the very subject, uninterested in jumping to conclusions about Booth's feelings, unwilling to admit that a line had been crossed.

Brennan now sat in her office alone, staring blankly at the computer screen in front of her. A shadow crept into the room, unnoticed by the scientist behind the desk.

"Are you busy?" Angela interrupted quietly, leaning against the doorway with an overnight bag slung over her shoulder, "everyone else has already gone home."

"Mildly," Brennan said, "But I'm just going over some old case files. Are you going over to Hodgins'?"

"Yeah."

Silence fell; Angela seemed to be choosing her words carefully.

"Have you seen Booth since-"

"No."

"Right."

More silence. Then Angela stepped further into her friend's office, dropping her bag next to one of the chairs before pulling it closer and sitting down, "I'll be blunt. I'm worried about you, sweetie. First that amazing kiss and now you guys are barely even talking-"

"That's not true; we both interrogated someone yesterday."

"Yes, you did. But that's _work_, sweetie. Have you talked about the kiss?"

Brennan rolled her chair back from the desk and shrugged off her lab coat, "Is that really necessary? It didn't mean anything. Why do we have to talk about it?"

"A kiss like that never means nothing, Brennan. And even if it didn't, you still have to make sure that it didn't mean anything."

Rolling her eyes, Brennan smirked, "Come on, Angela. Do you really think we'd ever be able to have a personal relationship? That's so…illogical."

"Sweetie? You already _have _a personal relationship. At this point it's just a matter of exactly how personal that relationship is. Finding out how he feels about you is the only logical thing to do, Brennan," Angela said, standing up and retrieving her bag, "And let me know what he says tomorrow, okay?"

The scientist scoffed, "Alright, Ange-whatever you say."

"Can you at least _pretend_ to take my advice? Humor me."

Pulling on a light jacket, Brennan sighed, "Fine. I'll bring up the subject. But I'm not promising that Booth will want to talk about it…he's very private about his personal life."

"Ok, sweetie. But I have a feeling that he'll start talking if you make a little effort."

After switching off the lights and locking the office door behind her, Brennan followed her friend out of the Jeffersonian, letting Angela give her a quick hug before they parted ways.

"I'm worried about Brennan, Jack," Angela said later that night, curled up in bed with her arm draped over Hodgins' chest, "She won't process what happened the other day with Booth…"

"You know what she's like, Ange. She doesn't think about things the way most people do. She'll realize that Booth loves her eventually, and then hopefully she'll put two and two together and realize that she's in love with Booth. We just have to sit back and let it all happen."

"Yeah, or else it turns into a complete car wreck without our help…"

Hodgins' traced her collarbone before placing a chaste kiss on her shoulder, "Let's just see how things pan out in the next couple of days. They might surprise us."

Angela didn't answer, instead bursting into giggles and shrieks as her fiancé continued to place kisses down her arm, his beard tickling her with each brush of his lips.

**Author's note: Apologies for the short length—I got lazy. But hopefully the next one will be longer, and things will start to pick up. Merry Christmas! **


	3. Chapter 3

Booth was leaning back in his chair and lazily tossing up a tennis ball when she entered his office, rapping lightly on the doorframe as she glided through wearing candy-apple-red Jimmy Choos and a black-and-white patterned wrap dress. As the ball fell, he fumbled to catch it while letting out a barely audible gasp, knocking over his pencil case in the process.

She fought back a smile as she took one of the seats opposite him.

"W-what are you doing here?" he stuttered, awkwardly gathering the spilt writing utensils together and dumping them back into the case, "shouldn't you be at the lab doing squint stuff?"

"It's my lunch break. I thought I'd drop by and have a little chat with you."

She crossed her legs while Booth settled back into his office recliner and raised his eyebrows, reclaiming some of his lost composure.

"Hm. You thought we'd have a little _chat_."

She shifted a little uneasily, and tossed her hair back, "Yes. I wanted to talk to you about what happened the other day at the lab."

"Does Bones know you're here?" he asked, throwing up the ball and catching it again with one swift movement.

Angela eyed him quizzically for a moment before shaking her head, "She doesn't want to discuss it, but I'm not going to sit back and let you guys forget that this ever happened."

Booth sighed and a brief silence fell between them. He seemed to be choosing his words carefully.

"I'm not sure exactly what I meant by it, Ange-"

She leaned forward, skeptically lifting an eyebrow.

"Bull."

He gritted his teeth and hissed out, "Alright, so I know what I meant. But that doesn't change anything; she still doesn't feel the same way."

Angela smiled knowingly, "Sweetie, come on. It's totally obvious that she's crazy about you!"

Scoffing, he straightened his tie, "I don't think I want to have this conversation with you, Ange- no offense. You know the way out, right?"

"Listen. I know that it's scary for both of you; admitting that things aren't exactly as they appear. But life could get a whole lot better for you two if you just let things happen…"

"I think that's enough, Montenegro. I'll see you back at the lab for an update on the evidence, okay?"

Angela groaned.

"Has anyone ever told the both of you that you're completely _impossible_ to talk to? If something doesn't fit into your own little bubble you fight crazy-hard to keep it from affecting you. Why don't you just admit that you guys love each other? All of the people who know you both will be _so_ relieved."

She was still talking as he ushered her back through the doors to his office, and she didn't seem to mind that he was nodding absently along with her speech, not hearing a single word.

"I'll see you later, okay? Tell Bones I said hi."

As the door closed in her face and the blinds closed soon after, Angela stood looking at the plate-glass window for a few moments with a stunned, disappointed look on her face before trudging off dejectedly in the general direction of the elevators.

* * *

Lying awake the night after Angela's visit, Booth wondered if she had been right.

After years of working next to Bones platonically, it was hard to imagine that a little kiss could introduce so many suppressed and long-forgotten feelings, but the thought of her lips against his still sent a shiver through him, and he still felt warm whenever she was in the same room. As he turned onto his back, sighing and looking at his glowing red alarm clock that read '3:45am', he couldn't help but wonder if she was still awake too, thinking of him.

She had, after all, kissed back. She had to be going through some sort of logical reasoning to explain the heat between them, telling herself that it was just the synapses in the brain that had triggered the reaction she'd given to the impromptu make-out session. He smirked, imagining her train of thought. With another sigh and another turn, Booth sat up, letting his feet fall onto the floor and reaching for the phone.

**AN: It's been a long time, I know. Let me know what you think!**


End file.
